Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making eBook

Inhabiting the most lonely and inaccessible ranges
of rock and mountain, the wild cat is seldom seen
during the daytime. At night, like its domestic
relative, he prowls far and wide, walking with the
same stealthy step and hunting his game in the same
tiger-like manner. He is by no means a difficult
animal to trap, being easily deceived and taking a
bait without any hesitation. The wild cat haunts
the shores of lakes and rivers, and it is here that
the traps may be set for them. Having caught
and killed one of the colony, the rest of them can
be easily taken if the body of the dead victim be
left near their hunting ground and surrounded with
the traps carefully set and concealed beneath leaves
moss or the like. [Page 168] Every wild cat that
is in the neighborhood will be certain to visit the
body, and if the traps are rightly arranged many will
be caught. The trap No. 3, page 141 is generally
used. We would caution the young trapper in his
approach to an entrapped wild cat, as the strength
and ferocity of this animal under such circumstances,
or when otherwise “hard pressed,” is perfectly
amazing. When caught in a trap they spring with
terrible fury at any one who approaches them, not waiting
to be assailed, and when cornered or hemmed in by a
hunter they will often turn upon their pursuer, and
springing at his face will attack him with most consummate
fury, often inflicting serious and sometimes fatal
wounds. When hunted and attacked by dogs, the
wild cat is a most desperate and untiring fighter,
and extremely difficult to kill, for which reason
it has been truthfully said that “if a tame
cat has nine lives, a wild cat must have a dozen.”

The twitch-up, erected on a large scale, is utilized
to a considerable extent in England in the capture
of these animals; and these, together with steel traps
and dead-falls, are about the only machines used for
their capture. We would suggest the garrote, bow
and gun trap also as being very effective. The
bait may consist of the head of a fowl or a piece
of rabbit or fowl flesh: or, indeed, flesh of
almost any kind will answer, particularly of the bird
kind.

In skinning the wild cat the same directions given
under the head of the Fox may be followed, or the
pelt may be ripped up the belly and spread on a hoop
stretcher, page 275.

THE BEAR.

There are several species of the Bear tribe which
inhabit our continent, the most prominent of which
are the Grizzly, and the Musquaw or common Black Bear.
There is no other animal of this country which is
more widely and deservedly dreaded than the grizzly
bear. There are other creatures, the puma and
wild cat, for instance, which are dangerous when cornered
or wounded, but they are not given to open and deliberate
attack upon human beings. The grizzly, however,
or “Ephraim,” as he is commonly termed
by trappers, often displays a most unpleasant readiness